Biology News | Sci.News

The Somali red aloe (Aloe sanguinalis), with co-author Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim Awale, at Lafarug, Somaliland, in January 2018. Image credit: Barkworth et al, doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.117.28226.

New Species of Aloe Discovered in Somaliland

Feb 18, 2019 by News Staff

A species of aloe believed to be new to science has been found in Somaliland, a self-declared state, internationally considered to be an autonomous region...

Pollen patterns: SEM images and simulations. Image credit: Asja Radja / Maxim Lavrentovich.

Nature Favors Production of Asymmetrical Pollen Grains

Feb 15, 2019 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Cell, plants favor the production of uneven, asymmetrical patterns on the surface of pollen grains over...

Spotted softshell turtles (Pelodiscus variegatus) in life, females. Image credit: Thomas Ziegler.

Researchers Discover New Species of Softshell Turtle

Feb 14, 2019 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Hungary, Germany and Vietnam has discovered a new, critically endangered species of softshell turtle in north-central Vietnam...

Gestures of our primate cousins may be more similar to our own language than previously thought. Image credit: Republica.

Chimpanzees’ Gestural Communication Follows Same Laws as Human Language: Study

Feb 14, 2019 by News Staff

According to a new study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, gestures of chimpanzees follow the same mathematical patterns — known...

Bibita Mountain dwarf puddle frogs (Phrynobatrachus bibita), females. Image credit: S. Goutte & J. Reyes-Velasco, New York University Abu Dhabi.

New Species of Puddle Frog Discovered in Ethiopia

Feb 13, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers from New York University Abu Dhabi has described a new species of frog from Bibita Mountain, an unexplored and isolated mountain...

Ceratogyrus attonitifer. Image credit: Ian Enelbrecht.

Newly-Discovered Tarantula Species Has ‘Horn’ on Its Back

Feb 12, 2019 by News Staff

A duo of researchers from South Africa has discovered a remarkable new species of tarantula living in central Angola. Ceratogyrus attonitifer. Image credit:...

The yellow-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis platurus). Image credit: Mark Sandfoss, University of Florida.

Sea Snakes Drink from Oceanic Freshwater Lenses, New Study Shows

Feb 11, 2019 by News Staff

Acquisition of freshwater is problematic for sea snakes living in oceanic environments that are distant from sources of freshwater associated with land....

Mosquitoes can hear up to 32 feet away. Image credit: Egor Kamelev.

Mosquitoes Can Hear Sound over Surprisingly Long Distances

Feb 8, 2019 by News Staff

Yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) can use their antennae to detect sounds that are at least 32 feet (10 m) away, according to a new study published...

A close-up of the tentacles of a male Ancistrus patronus. The male’s tentacles look like the eggs that the male cares for. Image credit: Jonathan W. Armbruster.

Scientists Discover Six New Species of Bristlenose Catfish

Feb 7, 2019 by News Staff

Six new species of tentacle-nosed catfish have been discovered in the Amazon and Orinoco River basins. A close-up of the tentacles of a male Ancistrus...

Howard et al show that honeybees can learn to use blue and yellow as symbolic representations for addition or subtraction. In a free-flying environment, individual bees used this information to solve unfamiliar problems involving adding or subtracting one element from a group of elements. Image credit: Ralph.

Study: Honeybees Can Do Basic Arithmetic

Feb 7, 2019 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Science Advances shows that honeybees (Apis mellifera), with a miniature brain, can be taught to recognize colors...

The receptors required for the gustatory responses to sour compounds have been elusive. Rimal et al discover a Drosophila taste receptor, IR7a, which is required for rejecting a sour chemical. Surprisingly, IR7a is narrowly tuned to acetic acid, suggesting that carboxylic acids are detected by a repertoire of receptors. Image credit: Rimal et al, doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.01.042.

Scientists Identify Sour Taste Receptor in Fruit Flies

Feb 6, 2019 by News Staff

Sour taste allows for the detection of hydrogen ions and organic acids. It is one of the five basic tastes and, along with other chemical and textural...

Forster et al created the most comprehensive collection of human intestinal bacteria to date.

Researchers Discover 105 New Species of Human Gastrointestinal Bacteria

Feb 5, 2019 by News Staff

A team of microbiologists has isolated 105 completely new species of bacteria from healthy people’s intestines. Forster et al created the most comprehensive...

Ten mammalian and five bird species were documented scavenging fish carcasses in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone including Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra). Image credit: Schlichting et al, doi: 10.1016/j.fooweb.2018.e00107.

Wildlife is Abundant in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Confirms New Study

Feb 4, 2019 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Food Webs provides additional evidence that wildlife is abundant in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a large area of...

Han et al compare stable isotope ratios from the bones and teeth of extant and extinct pandas and show that their trophic niches are distinctly different, although both species had a C3-dominated diet over time and space. The results indicate that ancient pandas possibly had more complex diets and habitats than do their modern counterparts. This image shows a male giant panda named Xiao Liwu at San Diego Zoo. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Ancient Giant Pandas Had More Complex Diet than Do Their Modern Counterparts: Study

Feb 1, 2019 by News Staff

Today, giant pandas are represented by one iconic species, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, and they live only in the understory of particular mountains in southwestern...

The largest specimen of the Berry Cave salamander (Gyrinophilus gulolineatus) measures 9.4 inches. Image credit: Nicholas Gladstone / University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Record-Breaking Salamander Found in Tennessee

Jan 28, 2019 by News Staff

A team of scientists has discovered the largest individual of any cave salamander in North America — a 9.4-inch (23.8 cm) long specimen of the Berry...

The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) is one of the 176 bird species studied by Navalón et al. Image credit: Free-Photos.

Study Sheds Some New Light on Evolution of Bird Beaks

Jan 25, 2019 by News Staff

The observation that Galapagos finches possessed different beak shapes to obtain different foods was central to the theory of evolution by natural selection,...

Reflection-polarization characteristics of the sunlit sticky white-striped brown human model. Image credit: Horvath et al, doi: 10.1098/rsos.181325.

Striped Bodypaintings Deter Blood-Sucking Flies: Study

Jan 23, 2019 by News Staff

Bodypainting is widespread in African, Australian and Papua New Guinean indigenous communities. Many bodypaintings use white or bright stripes on brown...

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes after an experiment; the lack of red in their guts indicates the compounds repelled the mosquitoes, which chose not to feed. Image credit: Mayur Kajla.

Powerful Mosquito-Repelling Compounds Isolated from Rare Bacterium

Jan 21, 2019 by News Staff

A mixture of mosquito-repelling compounds isolated from a Gram-negative bacterium called Xenorhabdus budapestensis exhibits potent feeding-deterrent activity...

Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii). Image credit: J.J. Harrison / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Research Reveals How Facial Tumor Disease Became Transmissible in Tasmanian Devils

Jan 17, 2019 by News Staff

The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), the world’s largest living carnivorous marsupial, is threatened with extinction by a horizontally transmitted...